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Élan Academy Charter School

Minutes

December Board Meeting

Date and Time

Wednesday December 20, 2023 at 5:30 PM

Location

Elan Academy

6501 Berkley Drive 

New Orleans, LA 70131

Elan Academy

6501 Berkley Dr.

New Orleans, LA 70131

(504) 619-9720

www.elanacademy.org  

The matters listed are those reasonably anticipated by the Chair to be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may, in fact, be discussed. Other items not listed may be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law. All agenda items are informational unless otherwise denoted, though all committee reports require a vote for acceptance. The meeting will be held on the campus of the school. 

Directors Present

D. Patin, G. Briggs, J. Thibodeaux, S. Rademaker

Directors Absent

D. Barnes, R. Green

Ex Officio Members Present

S. Garza

Non Voting Members Present

S. Garza

Guests Present

Jondrica Jefferson

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

G. Briggs called a meeting of the board of directors of Élan Academy Charter School to order on Wednesday Dec 20, 2023 at 5:45 PM.

C.

Approval of Today’s Meeting Agenda - Darren Patin (Voting)

D.

Add under New Business - Vote to approve grading project

S. Rademaker made a motion to Approve revising to include vote for grading project under new business.
G. Briggs seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

II. Head of School Report

A.

Head of School Report – Dr. Melanie Askew Clark (Voting)

Interim HOS S. Garza presented HOS report:

 

Basketball court will be installed over break.  Same with Pre-K playground.

Yard grading proposal received.  

Signage installed around building and front.

Discussed hiring status - most vacancies filled.

Discussed new partnership and grants opportunities.

Enrollment numbers steady

Suspension rate went slightly up but still below benchmark, which is good.

iReady testing being completed.  Numbers are positive across the levels of growth.

Discussed operations status.

Discussed cultural events for the holidays

 

 

G. Briggs made a motion to Approve HOS report.
J. Thibodeaux seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

III. Governance

A.

Governance Committee Report - Darren Patin (Voting)

Nothing to report this month

IV. Academic

A.

Academic Committee Report –

Met this month and report reflects the numbers from the iReady testing as discussed in the HOS report.

S. Rademaker made a motion to Approve to approve the Academic Committee report.
J. Thibodeaux seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

V. Finance

A.

Finance Committee Report –

No meeting held this month

VI. Development

A.

Development Committee Report –

Popcorn sale underway.  Sales are moving forward.

 

Trivia night slated for March

G. Briggs made a motion to Approve Development Committee Report.
J. Thibodeaux seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

VII. Additional Business

A.

Old Business

B.

New Business - Darren Patin

Review of proposed audit report.  Clean audit with no findings with regards to internal controls or compliance matters or financial matters.  Nothing but good things to say, according to auditor.

Spending of funds at 70/30 programming and administrative.  Recommend to update function codes to address.

J. Thibodeaux made a motion to Approve audit report and execution of the BESE/LLA AUP and engagement documents.
S. Rademaker seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

Approve of proposal for yard grading - lot of rebar and hard soil.  Current proposal is for $59K but will be lowered due to inclusion of basketball court and further negotiation.  Grounds Force is the lowest bidder, and a former vendor of the school.

 

 

S. Rademaker made a motion to Approve expenditure to grade yard, up to $59K.
G. Briggs seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

Discussion of approval of Agreements regarding Interim services agreement between Elan and Ms. Garza and Ms. Jefferson.

S. Rademaker made a motion to Approve Interim agreements between Elan and Ms. Garza and Ms. Jefferson.
J. Thibodeaux seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.

VIII. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 6:25 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
J. Thibodeaux
Guests are welcome to speak during each agenda item with recognition from the presiding officer. In the event to comments or debate may appear to be lengthy, the presiding officer will set a time limit the open comment period; will define the time length each person is afforded to speak; will recognize the order of the respondents, and each person will be asked to state their name, city, parish, and affiliation with the school (examples: employee, administration, parent, community guest, school board representative). This policy subject to change, as necessary.